Manufactured Housing : Home Owners

Getting Organized

Park tenants decide to organize as a group for different reasons. Some receive a "Notice of Intent to Sell" from their park owner. Others receive an eighteen-month "Eviction Notice" for change in land use or for condemnation of the park. Still others hear about groups who have formed a cooperative and purchased their park, and want to do the same.

You can organize to cooperatively purchase your park regardless of whether or not the park is for sale. Many park owners may be willing to sell the park to you if the sale will financially benefit them. The ideal approach is win/win, where purchaser and seller both benefit from the sale. Some sellers have financial needs besides cash. For example, in one case the park owners were elderly and sold the park to the residents at a discount with the stipulation that they could remain in their home within the park with a free lifetime lease.

Residents often ask at the start: "Where do we begin? How do we find out if buying our park with other tenants is feasible and will make sense? How do find out if any other tenants might be interested?"

Start by talking to other tenants and by gathering information.
Get out there and meet your neighbors.

Staff from the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund will meet with the group to provide introductory information about manufactured housing park cooperatives, the services that the Community Loan Fund provides, and how we may assist you in the conversion process from tenants to owners. You will have an opportunity to ask questions, voice your concerns, brainstorm how to proceed, and set a date for a follow up meeting.

It is not necessary to have every tenant interested and involved in a cooperative purchase to proceed to buy your park. Many groups find that initially there is a core group that organizes, and that along the way the idea builds momentum and interest grows with other tenants. In fact, one group purchased their forty-unit park with only eight initial members. One year later, membership in the cooperative totaled thirty-two households.

Just how long the purchasing process takes will vary according to the unique circumstances of each park. Cooperatives have been formed and parks have been purchased by tenants in as little as 60 days. Most take longer. Sometimes it is an ongoing process due to slow negotiations, parks being taken off the market, court battles, title problems, and misunderstandings with the town or state. One park purchase took three years.

Whatever your situation is, do not give up! There are groups all over the state that have been through the conversion process, own their park, control their rents, and feel security knowing that they will never be forced to leave the park or lose their homes.

Notice of Intent to Sell

Be prepared!
If you receive a Notice of Intent to Sell you have only 60 days to act!

In the state of New Hampshire every owner of a manufactured housing park who intends to sell is required by law (RSA 205-A:21) to notify each tenant by certified mail that he/she intends to sell the park. The notice must include "...the price, terms and conditions of an acceptable offer he has received to sell the park or the price, terms and conditions for which he intends to sell the park. This notice shall include a copy of the written offer or other document which sets forth a description of the property to be purchased and the price, terms, and conditions of the acceptable offer..."

For a 60-day period "...the owner must negotiate in good faith with the tenants concerning a potential purchase." If the tenants decide to make an offer to purchase the park, ..."such-offer shall be evidenced by a purchase and sale agreement ..."

Keep in mind that the intended selling price is merely an asking price, is generally much higher than the actual selling price, and is negotiable. Get help immediately. Do not delay calling the Community Loan Fund right away. Time is needed to organize and research options.

Know the law! Know your rights!
What if you don't receive a Notice of Intent to Sell?

In RSA 205-A:22, an owner who "....sells or transfers the park and willfully fails to comply with RSA 205-A:21 shall be liable to the tenants in the amount of $10,000 or 10% of the total sales price, whichever is greater." This means that as tenants you have the right to this sum of money if the owner does not notify you properly of their intent to sell the park and then actually finalizes the sale. (Please refer to RSA 205-A:21 through A:24 for the complete requirements and exemptions. A:21 and A:22 are on the next page of this guide).

For a free and complete copy of the manufactured housing park tenant law, RSA 205-A, contact:

The Law

TITLE 17 Housing and Redevelopment
Chapter 205-A
Regulation of Manufactured Housing Parks

§ 205-A:21 Notice Required Before Sale. - I. No manufactured housing park owner shall make a final unconditional acceptance of any offer for the sale or transfer of a manufactured housing park without first giving 60 days' notice to each tenant:

(a) That the owner intends to sell the manufactured housing park; and

(b) Of the price, terms and conditions of an acceptable offer the park owner has received to sell the park or the price, terms and conditions for which the park owner intends to sell the park. This notice shall include a copy of the signed written offer which sets forth a description of the property to be purchased and the price, terms and conditions of the acceptable offer.

II. During the notice period required under paragraph I, the manufactured housing park owner shall consider any offer received from the tenants or a tenants' association, if any, and the owner shall negotiate in good faith with the tenants concerning a potential purchase. If during the notice period, the tenants decide to make an offer to purchase the manufactured housing park, such offer shall be evidenced by a purchase and sale agreement; however, the tenants shall have a reasonable time beyond the 60-day period, if necessary, to obtain financing for the purchase.

III. The notice required by paragraph I shall be served by certified mail, return receipt requested, to each tenant at such tenant's abode. A receipt from the United States Postal Service that is signed by any adult member of the household to which it was mailed, or a notation on the letter that the letter was refused by any adult member of the tenant household, or that the addressee no longer resides there, or that the letter was returned to the post office unclaimed, shall constitute a conclusive presumption that service was made in any court action in this state.

§ 205-A:22 Penalty. - I. The owner of a manufactured housing park who sells or transfers a park and willfully fails to comply with RSA 205-A:21 shall be liable to the tenants in the amount of $10,000 or 10 percent of the total sales price. The total of damages to all tenants, in the aggregate, shall not exceed $10,000 or 10 percent, whichever is greater, of the total sales price. This civil penalty shall constitute the sole and exclusive remedy for violation of RSA 205-A:21 and the failure by a park owner to comply with said section shall not affect the validity of any sale or transfer of title nor shall such noncompliance constitute grounds to set aside a sale or transfer in any court proceedings. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to permit a tenant to attach the real estate for the penalty established by this section.

II. Lack of knowledge of this section by a park owner shall not be deemed to be a defense to an action for damages based on failure to comply with RSA 205-A:21, I.

Source. 1987, 383:2. 1989, 104:2, eff. June 30, 1989.

If Your Park Is Not For Sale

In the meantime, explore, research, and organize! Begin by talking to your neighbors. Is there a handful of people interested in exploring the cooperative purchase of the park? If the answer is "yes," the group can move forward. Contact the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund and a staff member will meet with the group to discuss resident ownership. Begin to research the age and operating costs of the park, the age and condition of the septic and electrical systems, roads, and any other information pertaining to the park. Find out about the owner; how long they have owned the park, how much they did they pay for the park, etc.

Talk to the park owner directly or through an attorney and find out if they would consider selling to the residents. Perhaps they hadn’t thought seriously about it before but are willing to consider it now. There may be any number of reasons why an owner may choose to sell a park–the need for money, the desire to get a return on their investment, relocating, retiring, illness, etc. Keep in mind that just because the park may not be for sale today doesn't mean it won’t be for sale tomorrow or next year. The more information that you gather now and the more people that are interested and involved, the easier it will be to actually purchase your park when the time is right.

Tenants associations can work together to get improvements in many areas, i.e., septic systems, unsafe electrical systems, poorly maintained roads, inadequate water supply, unfair park rules, and insufficient snow removal. The association can have great impact on landlords and on city and town officials.

You cannot be evicted for organizing or joining a tenants association. In fact, it is not only more effective, but probably safer to act together as a group to get necessary improvements in your park than it is to act alone. It is harder for an owner to retaliate against a group of people than it is against one person or a family. There is strength in numbers.

For information contact:

MOTA - Manufactured Home Owners and Tenants Association
PO Box 998
Concord, New Hampshire 03302-0998
Telephone: 603-224-0408

Closing Thoughts

People cannot be developed; they can only develop themselves. For while it is possible for an outsider to build a person's house, an outsider cannot give the person pride and self-confidence. Those things a person has to create in himself by his own actions. He develops himself by making his own decisions, by increasing his understanding of what he is doing and why, by increasing his own knowledge and ability, and by his own full participation–as an equal–in the life of the community he lives in. - Julius Nyerere

We at the Community Loan Fund's Manufactured Housing Park Program hope this guide provides you with an overview of manufactured housing park cooperatives and the services that we offer. We’ll work as hard for you as you work for yourself. We love to see cooperative ownership and want to be a part of your success. If you would like more information about manufactured housing park cooperatives and/or about the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund, please call and talk with us at:

(800) 432-4110

or write to

New Hampshire Community Loan Fund
Manufactured Housing Park Program
7 Wall Street
Concord, NH 03301

E-mail:
geninfo@nhclf.org

  
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